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Smurfs: The Movie

As an Au Pair for an eleven year old boy and eight year old girl, it is sometimes in my job description to watch insane amounts of The Disney channel, to play on a trampoline while being sprayed with the garden hose and to accompany the youngsters to the cinema. I have sat through the latest installment of Harry Potter even though I’ve never seen the first six installments and then been required to get into an indepth conversation about the characters and their motivations. But there was a most definite squeal of delight when I was told I was needed to escort the children to see the newest cool movie: The Smurfs in 3D.

I am of the age that I remember in the late 1980s, the Smurf’s cartoon which was usually played at 6.30am and I collected the little blue creatures. So, with much enthusiastism, on the walk to the cinema I regaled my charges with a little bit of background knowledge as to who these mythical creatures are.

The Smurfs of the movie were just as enchanting as I remembered, Papa was wise and sage, Clumsy was as clumsy as ever but ached to not be a colosal failure and the mere existance of smurfette still puzzled me as to why there was only one girl in the village. Only difference was I wondered what that poor girl had to put up with and I also got the hidden innuendo. Katy Perry as the voice of Smurfette was whimsical and funny and cute.

Hank Azaria was unrecognizable as Gargamel but he was everything Gargamel should be: sneaky, nasty, funnily stupid and completely obsessed with smurfs. And he brought most of the humour and gags to the film.

The film itself sees the little blue smurfs flying out of their hidden village and onto the streets of New York, with Gargamel following close behind.

The movie is a perfect continuation of the cartoons for those who remember them as well as being a perfect introduction to those new to the smurf world. It explains the history of the smurfs, including giving a shout out to the original creator.